“Let’s all take a corner,” Joel instructed. “And we’ll rotate turns with Heath, Talbot, Scott, and Lyle.”
The group of four men nodded.
“What about ski patrol?” Heath asked. “They’ll be coming soon, won’t they? I mean, we’re not stuck out here, are we?” Panic embedded his faltering tone.
“They can’t cross the avalanche,” Talbot said. “Just like we can’t.”
“Helicopters?” Heath asked, the anxious pitch of his voice rising.
“Not in this blizzard. They’ll be grounded,” Joel said. “We’re on our own, I’m afraid.”
Six
“WE NEEDSHELTER FAST,”Jayce hollered against the rising wind. “A cave? We could build a fire, get out of the snow.”
“Let me get my bearings,” Joel yelled back. He needed to think despite the numbness spreading through him—blood being siphoned from his extremities in an effort to protect the heart.
A cave wasn’t a bad idea, but there was something else on the cusp of his brain—a whisper not defined but insistent. He shook out his free hand, trying to wake it up, get the blood flowing before hypothermia shifted to frostbite.Help us,Lord. Directus. We cannot see,but You can see as brightas day.
He exhaled, his breath a white vapor among the white surrounding them. There was no way to make it back to the main lodge, the avalanche had seen to that, cutting out any pass to it. Except, perhaps, the top rim, but with the risk of falling, that was suicide. They’d have to wait to be rescued before they could make it back to the lodge. The same low whisper resonated in his ears. This time clear as a bell.Lodge. “That’s it!”Thank You,Jesus.
“What’s it?” Jayce asked, despondence edging his tone.
“The old lodge.”
“Didn’t they tear it down?” Iz asked, huddling against Talbot, his arm draped around her shoulders.
“Not yet. I talked to Stan recently.” His dad’s best friend and fourth-generation-owner of Cedar Loft.
“Okay.” Jayce coughed, raw and deep.
“He said he didn’t have the heart to tear the old lodge down.” His great-grandfather built it, and Stan wanted to fix it up someday. But they didn’t need to hear all that. Only the news of refuge. Ice pellets bounced off his back. “If I have my bearings right...”Come on,Boy Scouts,don’t fail me now.“It should be due west.”
“And how far?” Iz asked, her voice quivering, her teeth chattering.
He swallowed. He’d hoped to keep that part to himself.
“Bro?” Iz said, more insistent.
“Let’s just say due west.” He held her gaze, well, the outline of her body in the bluster of the fierce storm.
Wind howled, the only sound surrounding their party in the burgeoning whiteout. “Let the group know where we’re headed and to pull in ranks. Losing someone’s far too easy in these conditions.”
“I’ll let them know,” Talbot said, hitching his step. “I’ll be right back.” He kissed Iz’s cheek, or so it looked through a world drenched in white.
Five minutes later, Talbot back at Iz’s side, Heath led the way with his flashlight swathing across the shower of snow. The light faded within feet, succumbing to the darkness. Every so often, Heath turned, swiping the flashlight across their party to make sure everyone was still with them. Mia hung at the back, Amy trying to yank her forward, pushing to her to keep going.
Heath shifted, and the light bounced off Cassie’s ghost-white face.Frostbite. Increasing his strides, Joel hurried the pace, adrenaline burning his thighs.
“Slow down!” Amy yelled. “Mia’s struggling.”
“We can’t slow down.” He’d leave it at that. Elaborating on the alternative would only cause panic.
“I’ll help her,” Scott said, falling back.
Brady shifted his hand on his corner of the gurney, repositioning his hold. “Seriously, how far to this lodge?”
Joel glanced over his shoulder at the group stumbling throughthe snow behind him, snow too thick to make out faces beyond arm’s length. “A quarter of a mile.”
